Transactions get you paid but getting paid is not the goal. Not like that. You’ve got a larger ambition.
You are a builder. So, build. Build the community.
This will also get you paid. You might have guessed that, but it’s different. Instead of transactions you’ve got a tribe.
Tribes are force multipliers, they are leverage. They not only buy but they sell, they connect, they improve.
If you go to Starbucks every day and order the same thing, but they never remember, you are a transaction.
And if the coffee is good, and the price is right, you might keep coming. Or you might not. Lots of coffee shops can get it right. But if that is all they do, any other shop that gets the transaction right is a capable replacement.
The real salesperson, and we are all salespeople, will work to do more. They will remember your order. They greet you by name. They’ll take an interest in you, they’ll know about you, they’ll learn about you. They see the logo, the jersey, or the people you come with, and they think about how to get you into the tribe.
It’s hard to turn burgers into a tribe, but In-N-Out does it.
It’s hard to turn driving into a tribe, but Tesla does it. Harley-Davidson too.
We see tribes at the local gym, but now tribes are being built at the scale of the internet. Just look at Peloton.
Danny Meyers has a way of describing how to upgrade these experiences, he calls it ABCD. Always Be Collecting Dots so you can Always Be Connecting Dots. Dots are those things you notice about the customer. The name and the order and the family and the team and the hobby. Connecting those looks like “hey Dave,” asking “the usual,” and “how is Liz,” and “go hawks,” and “have fun golfing.” It’s not as difficult as you might think to really upgrade an experience. I want you to collect my dots, but to do that, you’ve got to be focused on the tribe, not the transaction.
It transforms an otherwise normal and benign experience into a connected one. It makes you memorable. And guess what, those things lead to more sales and higher margins and more consistent performance and a growing customer base. Those things all get you paid, but again, that’s not the goal. You’ve set your sights higher.
What do you think?